Saturday, June 30, 2012

Enjoy the unforgettable summer film evenings under the stars at the Lido of Lugano. As of June 20th the Open-Air cinema at the lakeside is back again. Until July 26th Lugano offers the best films of the past movie season at the extremely popular waterside Open-Air Cinema. Don't miss this special and romantic side of Ticino. Whether it is hot or even with a little rain it will be a unique experience you will never forget.

There are many different kind of movies waiting for you … to be seen … for more information on where and what click here: Open Air Cinema Lugano 2012

Friday, June 29, 2012

The beating heart of the Lugano summer is once again the LongLake Festival. Over 200 events and outstanding guests are enlivening the city, its squares, streets and parks each and every day for almost a month.

The 2nd International Festival proposes entertainment, theatre and dance shows, concerts as well as a lot of activities for kids. To better acquaint yourself with the ongoing events, the LongLake Festival has been split in six thematic sections: Lugano International Festival, Lugano Buskers Festival, Urban Art Lugano, Lugano Family, Estival Jazz, Lugano Words Festival and many other sideWave events.

INTERNATIONAL (28.06-22.07)
offers a rich programme with pop and classical music concerts, theatre, movie and cabaret shows, master classes and many internationally renowned guests.

BUSKERS (18.07-22.07)
pays homage to street art proposing folk, rock, jazz, indie and classical concerts, theatre and puppet shows as well as other original and innovative artistic performances.

AUL (28.06-22.07)
proposes a variety of arts initiatives aimed at connecting the residents with to the urban background.

ESTIVAL JAZZ (05.07-07.07)
open air free concerts bringing forth some of the best musicians on the world scene.

WORDS (28.06-22.07)
gives voice to writers and scholars by proposing recitals and meetings in the beautiful framework of the Parco Ciani and in the evocative space of the Ex-Macello Pubblico (former public slaughterhouse).

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Need some inspiration for summer activities? Here is a list of things to do this summer, that won't break the bank. Have fun!

1. Build a fort, go to nearby woods, gather sticks, broken branches, etc. build a fort, or house this will provide days worth of enjoyment both in the gathering/building/playing inside.

2. Take a nature walk.. take along a journal, let the kids bring cameras, then go home, identify everything your photographed, create a nature book. That's a whole other day's activities (paper, photos, glue, scissors, notebook) this is especially good saved for a rainy day.

3. Take an "Alphabet tour"... again camera(s) in hand, journals - letter guides for younger kids - drive to town/city - begin with the letter a (Apple street) b (building) c (colosseum) d(dairy queen) e(eatery) you get the drift - when you are done - each child has a personal and creative alphabet memory book.

6. Cook with your kids but let them plan it, be apart of the shopping, table setting - make dessert!

7. Host a cooking party - invite some friends - have each mom bring a few ingredients and spend the day making cookies, treats, etc. (maybe you know someone who could use some extra love and attention - make a whole meal with these friends, let the kids make cards, and go make someones day brighter and happier).

Monday, June 18, 2012

This post is dedcated to all the mums who are planning looooooong trips across the country or the continent. Following is a list of fun facts that should get your conversation going during your travels.

Kids are a lot better company during a car ride if you keep them engaged in conversation I find. This list provided us with endless laughs and conversation during our car trip last summer from Lugano to Madrid and then on to Paris.

So here goes:
- It is impossible for most people to lick their own elbow. (Try it!)
- A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
- A shrimp's heart is in its head.
- In a study of 200,000 ostriches over a period of 80 years, no one reported a single case where an ostrich buried its head in the sand, or attempted to do so.
- It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.
- The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is believed to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.
- If you sneeze too hard, you could fracture a rib.
- Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over a million descendants.
- Wearing headphones for just an hour could increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.
- In every episode of Seinfeld there was a Superman somewhere in the picture.
- In the course of an average lifetime, while sleeping you might eat around 70 assorted insects and 10 spiders, or more.
- Some lipsticks contain fish scales.
- Cat urine glows under a black-light.
- Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.
- Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
- There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
- The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing (when using the proper position of the hands on the keyboard; Hunting and pecking doesn't count!).
- A shark is the only known fish that can blink with both eyes.
- The longest one-syllable words in the English language are "scraunched" and "strengthed." Some suggest that "squirreled" could be included, but squirrel is intended to be pronounced as two syllables (squir-rel) according to most dictionaries. "Screeched" and "strengths" are two other long one-syllable words, but they only have 9 letters.
- "Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".
- Almonds are a member of the peach family.
- Maine is the only state that has a one-syllable name.
- There are only four words in the English language which end in "dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
- Los Angeles' full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula"
- A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
- An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
- Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
- In many advertisements, the time displayed on a watch is 10:10.
- The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life."
- A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.
- The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.
- The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
- Most people fall asleep in seven minutes.
- "Stewardesses" is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Well, the Switzerland Tourism Orgaization is in full swing welcoming thousands of tourists in every corner of the country. This video by the Swiss tourist board made me smile. Especially readers who live or have lived in this beautiful country will catch yourself giggling at some of the typical Swiss traditions depicted in the life guards sceen, for example.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Searching for a last minute booking for a special nature adventure camp. Switzerland's WWF's Panda Club offers children and young people 7-18 years over 65 holiday camps this year. Through playing and crafting together the young experience the relationship between humans and the environment while learning about nature in its beauty and diversity.

School's nearly out and you are still searching for a fun and nature-friendly summer camp for your kids. Check out the Kids' Klub Summer Kamp by clicking here: http://kidsklub.ch/en/activities/kids-klub-summer-kamp. Lots of open-air games and a swimming pool as well as guided activites will keep them busy as well as happy. There is even a possibility to learn some Chinese or Sign language.

This camp is destined for children aged 6 to 11 and takes place from June 18th to 22nd, 2012 in Pura. Pick-up is at 8:30 and drop-off at 17:30 at the Denner Parking in Agno.

For more info and enrollment write to info@kidsklub.ch or call Alessia at 077/ 448'68'65.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Would you believe that there are already 261 people signed up for the InterNations meeting tomorrow night? The monthly InterNations Meet-up Event is proof that the Expat community is growing fast in Lugano. Don't miss this event, you'll have a chance to make friends with people of all ages from Mongolia to Zimbabwe and from Taiwan to Jordan.

The InterNations Lugano group will be meeting on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 from 7 pm onwards, at NYX Lounge in Lugano, a trendy and modern Lounge Bar in the centre of town overlooking the lake. Great atmosphere, decor and good music combined with a superb selection of wines, cocktails and food are guaranteed.

They have exclusive use of the upper floor and half of the downstairs at NYX Lounge in the centre of town.

Venue: InterNations June Networking Event
Where: NYX LOUNGE, Via Stauffacher 1, 6901 LUGANO
When: Wednesday, June 13th, 2012
Time: 19:00 to 23:00
Entrance fees for the event:
Free for Albatross Members
CHF 10 for basic members
CHF 20 for attendees who are not on the guest list.
The entrance includes one welcome drink as well as a tasty selection of appetizers and snack foods. After that, as usual, drinks are pay self (pay as you go / no tabs)!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

My adolescent son is the proud owner of a portable phone since we moved to Paris. He never needed one in Lugano - in my opinon, although my son might beg to differ - since I could see his school out of my front window and hear the boys playing soccer in the schoolyard during breaktime.

Ikr = I know, right?

Anyway, with a new environment come new habits, along with a new phone and a whole new language. It is a language totally new to me. I always insisted my kids spell words out when writing and do NOT use abbreviations. I am sooo outdated! After receiveing various cryptic messages from Expat boy I needed to reseach some basic internet slang so I could communicate with my own son via SMS and WhatsApp. Did you know the latest abbreviations? Here goes.

UCAP - Up Close and Personal
HF﻿ - Have Fun
YDU - You Don't Understand
HTBT - Had To Be There
WHYB - Where Have You Been?
IDWTK - I Don't Want to Know
KMU - Keep Me Updated
TMMS - That Made Me Smile
OCN - Of Course Not
JLUK - Just Letting You Know
HAYT - How Are You Today?
IDWT - I Don't Want To
IHYDM - I Hope You Don't Mind

Did you know that according to the Urban Dictionary Moms is a respectful term for a parent? I won't go any further.....

Friday, June 1, 2012

“Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future”
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (American, 35th US President)

It's great to be a kid! At least, it should be, and that's the idea behind International Children's Day. It is a day dedicated to promoting the rights, health and happiness of kids everywhere.

The International Children's Day (ICD) is said to have originated in Turkey in 1920 and later in Geneva, Switzerland in 1925. It was a coincidence that two very important events took place on 1st June 1925. The first was the World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva while at the same time the Chinese Consul-General in San Francisco gathered a number of Chinese orphans to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. Since both these incidents had the idea of child welfare at their core, 1st of June began to be celebrated as International Children's Day thereafter. However, it was largely restricted to the communist countries and continues to be restricted, even after the atrophying of communism.

There is often little public awareness of International Children's Day. Most of the nations in the Western world, the Middle East, Africa and the southern hemisphere have their own particular so called "Children's day", which they celebrate during different times of the year. However, International Children's Day has acquired an important place in the agenda of United Nations and its concerned agencies, especially UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund).

Now, I know that Switzerland has not jumped on that bandwagon yet but nevertheless why not celebrate the day by doing something special with a child in your life--and let your own inner child have some fun as well!

Followers

Globetrotting

The Mom song

Cheap flights

Voice Recognition Elevator

La leçon de géographie

Things I've learned from my children:

Always look in the oven before you turn it on. Plastic toys do not like ovens.

The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earth worms dizzy. It will, however, make cats dizzy.

Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.

Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.

No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.

Pool filters do not like Jell-O.

Super glue is forever.

Play Dough and Microwave should never be used in the same sentence.

Certain LEGOs will pass through the digestive Tract of a four year old.

A six year old can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36 year old man says they can only do it in the movies. A magnifying glass can start a fire, even on an overcast day.

Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.

When you hear the toilet flush and the words "Uh-oh," it's already too late.

You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using the ceiling fan as a bat, you Have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.

The glass in windows (even double pane) doesn't Stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.

A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. foot house 4 inches deep.

If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.

If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the Motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound boy wearing Batman underwear and a superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20 by 20 foot room.